China, Counterfeit Haven Creates Fake Apple Store and More [PHOTOS]

By IBT Staff Reporter On 07/24/11 AT 7:15 PM

A vendor holds three fake Louis Vuitton wallets while waiting for customers in famous Xiangyang Market, which will be closed on Saturday evening, in Shanghai June 29, 2006. Enforcing piracy laws with China is part of the U.S. strategy for reducing its trade deficit, Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez said. Photo: Reuters

A visitor looks at fake designer watches displayed at an exhibition of China's achievements in Intellectual Property Protection in Beijing April 17, 2006. Washington has repeatedly complained that unauthorised Chinese copying of films, music, software and other forms of intellectual property is costing U.S. companies billions of dollars in lost earnings every year. U.S. industry groups say about 90 percent of DVDs, music CDs and software sold in China are pirated. China has said it is improving protection of patents, copyrights and trademarks and punishing more bootleggers. Photo: Reuters

A piece of fake Louis Vuitton material is seen at Shiling Zhen leather market in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou September 30, 2010. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development estimates the amount of counterfeit goods and pirated copyrights in world trade grew from about $100 billion in 2001 to about $250 billion in 2007, the last year for which they have made an estimate. In the 2009 budget year, U.S. Customs agents and other officials made 14,481 seizures valued at $260.7 million dollars. Picture taken September 30, 2010. Photo: Reuters

Counterfeit goods bearing Burberry name tags are seized by customs officials inside a warehouse in Hong Kong July 27, 2005. Hong Kong Customs smashed a large syndicate of counterfeit goods on Tuesday, resulting in the seizure of HK$62.5 million (US$8.07 million) worth of countercfeit clothes and leather goods, with some of them destined for Japan. Photo: Reuters

A fake LVMH handbag (R) purchased and shipped from a China -ased online website is pictured next to products on display at a Louis Vuitton store in Chevy Chase, Maryland, October 5, 2010. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development estimates the amount of counterfeit goods and pirated copyrights in world trade grew from about $100 billion in 2001 to about $250 billion in 2007, the last year for which they have made an estimate. In the 2009 budget year, U.S. Customs agents and other officials made 14,481 seizures valued at $260.7 million dollars. Picture taken October 5, 2010. Photo: Reuters

A Reuters reporter examines a fake LVMH handbag purchased from a China-based online website in this shipment delivered to the Reuters office in Washington, October 5, 2010. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development estimates the amount of counterfeit goods and pirated copyrights in world trade grew from about $100 billion in 2001 to about $250 billion in 2007, the last year for which they have made an estimate. In the 2009 budget year, U.S. Customs agents and other officials made 14,481 seizures valued at $260.7 million dollars. Picture taken October 5, 2010. Photo: Reuters

A pedestrian uses his cell phone as he walks past a fake Apple store in Kunming, Yunnan province July 21, 2011. Chinese counterfeiters have had a field day pumping out knockoffs of Apple Inc's best-selling iPhones and iPads, but one appears to have gone a step further -- a near flawless fake Apple Store that even employees believe is the real deal. Complete with the white Apple logo, wooden tables and cheery staff claiming they work for the iPhone maker, the store looks every bit like Apple Stores found all over the world, according to a 27-year-old American blogger living in the city, who stumbled upon the store and goes by the name "BirdAbroad". To match Reuters Life! CHINA-APPLE/FAKE Picture taken July 21, 2011. Photo: Reuters

Employees at a fake Apple store use an iPad tablet in Kunming, Yunnan province July 22, 2011. Chinese counterfeiters have had a field day pumping out knockoffs of Apple Inc's best-selling iPhones and iPads, but one appears to have gone a step further -- a near flawless fake Apple Store that even employees believe is the real deal. Complete with the white Apple logo, wooden tables and cheery staff claiming they work for the iPhone maker, the store looks every bit like Apple Stores found all over the world, according to a 27-year-old American blogger living in the city blogger, who stumbled upon the store and goes by the name "BirdAbroad". Photo: Reuters

A counterfeit Apple iPhone, which sold for RMB450 ($66), is shown at a mall selling electronics in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen in Guangdong province July 30, 2009. Apple computer, whose popular iPhone is widely copied in China, isn't the only foreign handset maker to suffer at the hands of counterfeiters. Knock-offs of Samsung, Nokia and Motorola products are all sold openly throughout China. Photo: Reuters

An employee (R) in a fake Apple Store gestures with his middle finger to a photographer trying to take pictures of the store in Kunming, Yunnan province July 21, 2011. Chinese counterfeiters have had a field day pumping out knockoffs of Apple Inc's best-selling iPhones and iPads, but one appears to have gone a step further -- a near flawless fake Apple Store that even employees believe is the real deal. Complete with the white Apple logo, wooden tables and cheery staff claiming they work for the iPhone maker, the store looks every bit like Apple Stores found all over the world, according to a 27-year-old American blogger living in the city blogger, who stumbled upon the store and goes by the name "BirdAbroad". Photo: Reuters

A counterfeit Apple iPhone, which sold for RMB450 ($66), is shown at a mall selling electronics in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen in Guangdong province July 30, 2009. Apple computer, whose popular iPhone is widely copied in China, isn't the only foreign handset maker to suffer at the hands of counterfeiters. Knock-offs of Samsung, Nokia and Motorola products are all sold openly throughout China. Photo: Reuters

A street vender sells McCain, Obama and Palin condoms in New York's Times Square. Recently, New York City Health Department has launched an iPhone and Android application - NYC Condom Finder - to help users find free condoms. Photo: Reuters

AT&T mobile phones are seen for sale alongside T-Mobile phones at a RadioShack electronics store in Los Angeles August 31, 2011. Photo: Reuters

Shopkeepers selling fake designer bags wait for customers at a shopping mall in Beijing March 28, 2007. China urged patience from the developed world on Tuesday as it seeks to stop infringements of patents, copyrights and other intellectual property. State Councillor Chen Zhili told a forum on intellectual property China was committed to strengthening intellectual property protections, but also urged wealthy countries to share more technology and show more understanding. Photo: Reuters

Goods are displayed at a shop in Xiahe, western China's Gansu province August 14, 2006. The counterfeit and low-quality goods on offer in Xiahe highlight the challenges of increasing consumption in rural areas. Picture taken August 14, 2006. Photo: Reuters

People suspected of selling counterfeit renminbi banknotes are detained at a police station in Zhengzhou, capital of central China's Henan province June 21, 2007. Some 200,000 counterfeit renminbi banknotes were seized when three suspects made a deal at a hotel, local media reported. Photo: Reuters

A customer looks through a catalogue of fake foreign brand handbags in a store at Baiyun World Leather Market in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou, September 29, 2010. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development estimates the amount of counterfeit goods and pirated copyrights in world trade grew from about $100 billion in 2001 to about $250 billion in 2007, the last year for which they have made an estimate. In the 2009 budget year, U.S. Customs agents and other officials made 14,481 seizures valued at $260.7 million dollars. Picture taken September 29, 2010. Photo: Reuters

A man sells pirated DVDs at an alley in Beijing December 13, 2007. U.S. officials have "forcefully" told China that Washington does not consider it acceptable for China to suspend the showing of American-made movies, U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab said on Thursday. "If Chinese citizens want to watch American movies and they can't go to movie theatres to see them then they are going to smuggle in and purchase copies of DVDs and that is a part of the market access case that we've taken to the WTO," she said. Photo: Reuters

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The recent revelation of fake Apple stores located in the southwestern Chinese city of Kunming,Yunnan highlights its infringing patents and copyrights culture. Visitors are fooled by elaborately constructed replicas of commercial products in China known as a counterfeit haven.

While Apple has not yet given any official comments on the fake Apple store, the scale and audacity of China’s counterfeiting culture has surprised many, putting the spotlight on other fake Chinese goods.